NCAA men's tourney: Kansas rallies to beat North Carolina

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Top-seeded Kansas was on the ropes, turning over the ball about as often as it was putting up shots, and had allowed North Carolina to build a comfortable lead by halftime.

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By The Associated Press

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By The Associated Press

Posted Mar. 25, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By The Associated Press
Posted Mar. 25, 2013 at 2:00 AM

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Top-seeded Kansas was on the ropes, turning over the ball about as often as it was putting up shots, and had allowed North Carolina to build a comfortable lead by halftime.

Bill Self followed his team into the locker room and, undoubtedly, delivered quite a message, even though his answer dripped with sarcasm when he was asked later to describe it.

"I told them, 'Hey, just keep doing what we're doing, we'll be fine,' " Self said with a grin.

The Jayhawks were fine indeed, but only because they flipped the script.

They played better on defense, protected the ball on offense — making shots didn't hurt either — and behind the impassioned play of Travis Releford and Jeff Withey, pulled away from the eighth-seeded Tar Heels for a 70-58 victory Sunday in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

"We played miserably the first half and they took us out of everything," said Self, whose team trailed the Tar Heels 30-21 at the break. "The second half, we played really, really well."

Much to the chagrin of former Kansas coach Roy Williams, whose Tar Heels were knocked out of the tournament by Kansas during its 2008 title run and again last year, when the Jayhawks advanced all the way to the Final Four.

"It was definitely a nightmare in the second half," Williams said, "no question about it."

Withey and Releford led the way, the 7-footer scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 rebounds and Releford adding 22 points. Together, the two senior starters helped the Jayhawks (31-5) outscore the Tar Heels 49-28 in the second half, pushing the Big 12 champs into a South Regional semifinal against fourth-seeded Michigan on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

P.J. Hairston scored 15 points and James Michael McAdoo finished with 11 for the Tar Heels.

AUSTIN, Texas — Mike Rosario scored 25 points and Florida used an overpowering first half to roll past Minnesota and into the round of 16 for third consecutive.

The No. 3 seed Gators (28-7) shot a blistering 65 percent in the first half and led by 21 by halftime. The win earns Florida a return trip to the Lone Star State to play No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast on Friday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Andre Hollins scored 25 points to lead the No. 11-seed Gophers (21-13). Hollins' 3-point shooting sparked a second-half rally that pulled Minnesota within seven points, but Rosario's sixth 3-pointer with 3 minutes left pushed the Gators' lead back to 16 and effectively locked up the win.